Monday, COVID-19 remained a public health emergency of international concern, the WHO's highest level of alert, the organization stated.
The agency added in a statement that the pandemic was likely in a "transition point" and still requires careful management to "mitigate the potential negative consequences."
The WHO first declared COVID to be a global health emergency three years ago. The outbreak, which has ravaged communities and economies in every nation on Earth, has resulted in the deaths of over 6.8 million people.
However, the pandemic situation has changed significantly since 2020 due to the development of vaccines and treatments. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has stated that he hopes to see an end to the emergency this year, particularly if global access to the countermeasures can be improved.
Tedros stated at a separate WHO meeting on Monday, "We remain hopeful that the world will transition to a new phase in which we reduce (COVID) hospitalizations and deaths to their lowest possible level."
In December, advisors to the WHO expert committee on the pandemic's status told Reuters that it probably wasn't the right time to end the emergency because there was no way to know how many people would get sick in China after it ended its strict zero-COVID policy at the end of 2022.
